Once Upon a Nightmare
by xTamashii
Summary: Dreams are pretty, but nightmares are prettier.  Almost deathly beautiful, in fact.  Can Lovino figure out what his mean before something absolutely irreversible happens? -SpainxRomano-


Um. Hi. This is my first Hetalia fanfiction...? But not my first fanfiction at all. I hope to get into the Hetalia writing community a little bit more, eheh ^^;

So, I hope you'll like this. I won't say too much, but please read and enjoy. And yes, it will be multi-chaptered.

Uh, quick warning, also. I don't know most foreign languages. I only really know German since I took it for three years, and even that won't be perfect. Ehe. So if you ever see any language mistakes, please, do tell me. I think I'm going to keep the foreign languages to a minimum, however, just to make sure I don't mess up...

* * *

**i.**

_A Flower of Hell_

_

* * *

He swallowed hard, throwing a haphazard glance over his shoulder just to make sure he wasn't being followed._

_...And he wasn't. Thank goodness._

_His chest heaved from the effort of running so much. He truly hoped it wasn't futile, he was tired of his efforts being futile. He clutched at the package at his chest. If he failed now, everything would surely be ruined. Everything. He tried wiping his slick hands on his jeans, but it didn't help much. His clothes were just as soaked with blood as his hands were. _

_His throat burned every time he breathed and his chest felt like someone had given it quite a good kick, but he was as rested as he had time to be. He couldn't stop, not here, not now, not when it all seemed to rely on him._

_He squinted through the haze of sweat, blood and grime, checking his surroundings before he took off at a full run again, ignoring the fire searing through his breathing passageways, ignoring the fact that his wound had surely reopened (he could feel it opening up more and more with each step he ran)._

_He was lucky to have made it this far, but how long would this luck last? He didn't want to question it. He just wanted to do what was expected of him, what he knew he had to do. And he couldn't get caught. He didn't even want to imagine what would happen if he did._

_The stench of burning was a familiar one by now, and he smelled it everywhere. Apparently he had reached somewhere where more things had burned than in other places, for every time his foot connected with the ground, a cloud of ash rose into the air, choking him momentarily until he realized he had to stop, brushing himself off best he could and coughing painfully._

_He pushed a hand through his sweaty and dirty hair, breathing ragged. How long could he keep this up? For all he knew, they were waiting at his intended destination to ambush him or something of the like. He wasn't really made for all this running, and he knew it. He let his eyes slide shut for a moment. _

_A scream tore through the night._

_With a start he sprang up, eyes wild, clutching the package even closer to his body in an almost protective manner. _

_The scream faded into sobs, then nothing. He swallowed hard, chancing a look back. He couldn't see anything, but that didn't really mean anything..._

_There was another sound. One that was all too familiar to him._

Scraaaape. Whoooosh. Thud.

_It fell silent for a moment before taking up a familiar rhythm._

Scrape. Whoosh. Scraaape. Whooosh.

THUD_._

_It had gotten closer. Frantic, he glance around. Where was it? Where? He couldn't lose now, he just couldn't, he couldn't...not now, not ever, not in a thousand years._

_A high pitched keening sound resonated from somewhere. As if on cue, he ran, kicking clouds of ash into the air again but not having time to pay attention. He ran, sheer panic fueling him, adrenaline causing him to go even more quickly than he had before._

_The keening sound grew closer still, seeming to have caught onto him. Damnit, he knew he shouldn't have stopped again..._

_He whirled around the, freeing the dagger from its usual place on his belt, tucking the package protectively away in his coat. His grip on the dagger was firm despite the white-hot terror that seemingly owned him now._

_A faint clicking sounded from the bushes._

_He barely had time to turn before white hot fingers of pain plunged themselves into his back, curling greedily around his spine...he blacked out, but not soon enough..._

_

* * *

_Lovino groaned as he walked, rubbing his neck from where he'd slept on it funny. That was going to be a pain in the ass all day long, he was sure of it.

He barely stifled a yawn before entering the shop, shoving his hands into his pockets. He could safely say that last night was the worst night ever. On top of being forced to babysit a gaggle of drunks who thought doing stupid things like taking out mailboxes with baseball bats was fun, he had to cover for his brother's shift at work because he was supposed to go out on some date with some German asshole that he absolutely couldn't stand. That meant spending the day dealing with his brother's sick bastard of a boss who just _loved_ sticking his hands down the pants of anyone he could reach.

He was surrounded by dumbasses.

"Welcome - ! Oh. It's just you, _fratello_."

Lovino noticed the lack of enthusiasm in his little brother's voice was very distinct.

"What do you mean just me, idiot? I'm here to cover for you, you ingrateful little - "

Feliciano waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, I know, and I'm really happy you would do that for me. Ve."

Lovino could only sigh in exasperation. "What would you do without me?"

Feliciano giggled as he took off his apron and shoved it at him, beaming. "I don't know, big brother~ I wouldn't have anyone to shove my responsibilities on if you weren't around. Ehehe."

He snatched the apron out of his brother's hands, scowling. "Why you...!" Feliciano only giggled and pranced away, grabbing his things as he turned to his brother with a mock salute. "See you later, _fratello_!" He called out in a singsong voice before the door closed behind him, the bell jingling as he did so. Lovino sighed, massaging his neck as he put the apron on, heading behind the counter to continue enduring what was undoubtedly going to be a terrible day.

Business was generally slow on Thursdays, and who knew why, but business was _always_ slow here on Thursdays. Both luckily and unluckily, that meant Lovino wouldn't have too much to do. He idly pressed the open and close buttons on the cash register, entertaining him for all but five seconds.

He sighed heavily, leaning back against the counter, staring listlessly at the many ice cream flavors in the display.

Well, at least it was cool in here.

Bored out of his mind, Lovino drew up a chair, flopping down onto it heavily with a sigh of exasperation.

So far, this wasn't turning out to be nearly as bad as he'd expected.

A couple hours passed, and only maybe two people had come in. Lovino wasn't so terrible that he couldn't deal with people. Rather, he dealt with them just fine...it was the ones he didn't like that he wasn't nice to. And he didn't like alot of people...well, for the most part, anyway.

He rested his face on his hand, his neck hurting something awful. He was sure this only made his usual scowl even more pronounced, so he was grateful no one was showing up. Only a couple more hours left to endure of this shift, then whoever was after his brother would take over. Lovino had no idea who that was. Though he had covered for his brother a number of times, he never had on a Thursday. And, he realized, the thought lightening his mood somewhat, there had been no sign of that creeper of a boss his brother had. So despite his neck pain, Lovino found himself in what he would call a relatively good mood. For the moment, at least, he was content.

Who could say how long it would last, however. He thought dryly to himself.

Another hour passed in a similar fashion, with barely any customers, leaving Lovino alone to his thoughts.

He was startled out of his peaceful state of mind when the door opened again to reveal the one person he really had been hoping he wouldn't see today. He groaned. He'd forgotten that _he_ worked here too...

He sighed and sat up, usual scowl in place.

"Eh? Lovi, what are you doing here?" Said person smiled widely.

"Covering for Feliciano." He muttered, drumming his fingers idly on the surface of the counter.

"Ahaha, of course, I forgot that you did that." He continued to beam, and they lapsed into what Lovino considered to be an awkward silence.

Well, now Lovino knew full well who worked the shift after his brother. Damn. Antonio. He hadn't seen him in a while and had kind of been hoping to keep it that way.

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. He was something of a family friend, he supposed, because he remembered him always being around, even during his childhood. Antonio was kind of someone who was always just _there_, so Lovino took him being around for granted, figuring he was just a normal part of his life. Then he'd left to attend college in Spain, where some of his family still lived. They hadn't seen each other in years, and by the time he came back, they had already grown apart. At least, that's what Lovino told himself. He felt oddly betrayed by the Spaniard's actions, even if the whole thing was something eh couldn't help.

As if he was trying to break the uncomfortable silence, Antonio spoke up again. "So, Francis isn't around? I didn't see his car out in the parking lot."

Lovino was tempted to make a sarcastic remark but bit it back. He wasn't in the mood for it right now. "I guess not. Didn't see him here the whole time I've been here."

He only nodded in response to that, smiling softly. "Okay. In that case, why don't you let me take over what's left of Feli's shift? Since my shift is right after anyway."

The Italian frowned slightly in response, weighing his options. On one hand, he could be spared the relentless boredom that came with sitting here for another hour, but at the same time, he'd miss seeing Antonio since he didn't see him that often...

And it wasn't like Lovino really _wanted_ to hang around Antonio that much. Really. He just figured it would be a good idea for old times sake.

"Nah, it's fine. I'll just finish up, there's not that much left anyway." He replied, leaning his face back on his hand again. He could've sworn he saw the other man beam at his response out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't want to turn his head fully to see.

"Alright. I'll sit with you then, _si?_"

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." Lovino was in no mood to argue. Really. That was the reason.

The two of them sat there in peaceful silence for a while, not speaking.

He wasn't really sure when it was that he'd began to drift off, but by the time he'd realized it, he was already asleep.

* * *

_I'll find you, my little one. Really now, you think you can hide away from me forever?_

_Haha. Foolish thoughts, those...foolish._

Scrape. Whoosh. THUD.

* * *

Lovino sat up with a start, eyes wide as he glanced around, the short dream almost immediately forgotten. The more he tried to remember, the more quickly it slipped away. He shook his head, blinking. There was no point in trying to remember bad dreams. After all, what could be in them that he even wanted to remember, anyway?

But ugh, falling asleep at work? That wasn't really like him. His lack of sleep from the night before really must be catching up with him. Lovino stretched and yawned, rubbing his neck again with an irritated sigh.

He heard a faint chuckle and turned to the source of the sound, noticing Antonio's amused look. "You seem tired, Lovi. Why don't you let me finish up here, hm?"

Lovino sighed. He really couldn't argue this time. "Fine, bastard. Just don't screw anything up."

"Aw, Lovi. I promise I won't screw up. I work here too, remember?"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Whatever. See ya." Just as he turned to leave, he felt Antonio's hand on his shoulder, causing him to tense. He turned slowly, meeting Antonio's worried gaze.

"Are you alright, Lovi? You were groaning a little. In your sleep, I mean."

"I'm fine." He brushed his hand away, just as he brushed the subject away. "Bad dream."

The Spaniard only nodded at this and they stood there in silence for another brief moment. "Well, see you."

Lovino turned quickly, taking off the apron and handing it to Antonio without looking before exiting the shop.

Something was still bothering him, more than he cared to admit, and he had no idea what that something was.

* * *

_You're all mine, mine, mine, mine, mine...not his mine. He doesn't deserve to even look at you._

_Only I can make you happy..._

_Come here at let me hurt you in a way too beautiful for words..._

_

* * *

_Okay. So. That's all?

You will review won't you? I really need feedback on this, haha. I love writing horror. And blood. So be warned that those things may pop up in my story. Not this early on, but later, most likely. I had a hard time deciding which pairing I wanted to write my first fic about, but I eventually decided on Spamano. Why? It's just so perfect! It's got to be one of my absolute favorites.

Ehehe. I hope you liked it. Next chapter will be up as soon as I know if people are even interested in reading this~

Translation notes:

_fratello - _brother

_si - _yes


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